Non-motoring > Put the house up for sale Miscellaneous
Thread Author: bathtub tom Replies: 44

 Put the house up for sale - bathtub tom
Bought a bungalow last November that needs a lot of renovation, so put the house up for sale last Friday. MY GOD! Had an offer at asking price yesterday and six more viewings today.
This was after rejecting the first couple of agents.
1: valued it at 10% less than the current offer
2: valued it at ten grand less than the current offer

I haven't moved for 45 years and am out of touch with the current requirements. I understand I need an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate), but what else?

HELP, please!
 Put the house up for sale - R.P.
It's a nightmare. We sold in July 2020, sale fell through end of January, sold 30k more in March !
 Put the house up for sale - Bobby
Why did you buy it if you knew it needed lots of work doing?

Or have circumstances changed?
 Put the house up for sale - smokie
My mate did similar recently - he's been retired a bit over a year - bought a large bungalow to completely modernise and extend - I'm sure it will be lovely at the end but there will be a few years of being a bit of a building site and inconvenience before he gets to that stage. Couldn't be bothered myself, at this point of my life.
 Put the house up for sale - Dog
>> MY GOD! Had an offer at asking price yesterday and six more viewings today.

Tis the same all over the country, more or less. I'm a cereal mover (frosties, sugar puffs etc.) and have moved owse 6 times in godforsaken Cornwall alone, plus various places in England and Tenerife.

Been in this owse since August 2020 but it's unsuitable for 2 large dogs, luvly gardens though so, I looks on Rightmove every day and the latest trick is "offers above", so effectively they want ewe to get in a bidding war (stuff that)

I do plan to market this property come Spring. Paid £350k forrit and it will be interesting to see what it will be priced @.
 Put the house up for sale - smokie
I can't see the appeal of moving regularly, though maybe you have less "possessions" than I do. It costs, it is disruptive, and you have to keep getting used to the foibles of a new property. Why don't you just find somewhere suitable and stay there? :-)
 Put the house up for sale - Duncan
In 2005 I swore (frequently and disgustingly) that I would NEVER, EVER, move again. True to my word, since then, I have only moved twice.
 Put the house up for sale - bathtub tom
>>Why did you buy it if you knew it needed lots of work doing?

>> I can't see the appeal of moving regularly, though maybe you have less "possessions" than
>> I do. It costs, it is disruptive, and you have to keep getting used to
>> the foibles of a new property. Why don't you just find somewhere suitable and stay
>> there? :-)

SWMBO's not in the best of health, I've arthritis, particularly dodgy knees and a dicky ticker.

We'd discussed buying a bungalow for a couple of years, when this one came up nearby. We like the area (we've been here for forty-odd years). It's 3 bed, detached, 2 bathrooms (one en-suite), utility. It's got a new garage and the old one's been converted into a couple of sheds. The previous occupant died last January and the place has been empty since. He was obviously disabled so the whole place needs decorating and we're having the bathrooms and kitchen re-fitted.
We know of several couples who should've done the same years ago, one has to crawl up and down stairs on their knees and another doesn't use the stairs except once in the morning and again at night. Others make the excuse there's too much to clear and they're too old to do it now.
I tell my kids it'll save carrying my coffin down the stairs.
 Put the house up for sale - sooty123
Others make the excuse there's too much
>> to clear and they're too old to do it now.
>>

I think that happens to lots of people, end up trapped in houses that are far too big/unsuitable. Although some is inertia, some is down to (in some parts of the country) a shortage of bungalows.
 Put the house up for sale - CGNorwich
A lot of people buy bungalows when they get old thinking that they are the solution to housing in old age . Yes they solve the problem of stairs but they still require a lot of upkeep, often having large gardens Many are far from facilities such as bus routes and railway stations, shops and restaurants. They can be costly to heat and too big for one person. Sooner or later it comes down to one person. A modern well designed flat in a town cenre near to some facilities is ofte a better option.
 Put the house up for sale - bathtub tom
>> A lot of people buy bungalows when they get old thinking that they are the
>> solution to housing in old age . Yes they solve the problem of stairs but
>> they still require a lot of upkeep, often having large gardens Many are far from
>> facilities such as bus routes and railway stations, shops and restaurants. They can be costly
>> to heat and too big for one person. Sooner or later it comes down to
>> one person. A modern well designed flat in a town cenre near to some facilities
>> is ofte a better option.

Just as well the one we bought is just down the road from a McCarthy & Stone complex.
 Put the house up for sale - Zero

>> often having large gardens Many are far from
>> facilities such as bus routes and railway stations, shops and restaurants. They can be costly
>> to heat and too big for one person.

Dont know where that ole pony came from, its far from typical



>> one person. A modern well designed flat in a town cenre near to some facilities
>> is ofte a better option.

So you sell your bungalow, with an average size garden, which sells well because its near the shops, railway station and restaurants and buy a retirement flat - cheap because they have such restrictive covenants they never keep up with general house price inflation. - and you don't care about the poor resale value that because your only exit strategy is via the black windowless MB vito van.
 Put the house up for sale - Dog
<ROFLOL>
 Put the house up for sale - sooty123
>> A lot of people buy bungalows when they get old thinking that they are the
>> solution to housing in old age . Yes they solve the problem of stairs but
>> they still require a lot of upkeep, often having large gardens Many are far from
>> facilities such as bus routes and railway stations, shops and restaurants. They can be costly
>> to heat and too big for one person. Sooner or later it comes down to
>> one person. A modern well designed flat in a town cenre near to some facilities
>> is ofte a better option.
>>

Maybe that's the case in some, but I don't think that's typical.
 Put the house up for sale - Dog
>> Why don't you just find somewhere suitable and stay there? :-)

I will, pretty soon - the grave.

I've made money on each sale (barring one) £100k in 12 months on the Gorran Haven place, so that pays for the costs.
 Put the house up for sale - sooty123
We moved a fair bit, you get used to it tbh. It's not such a drama if you move fairly often, I think we've moved 4 times in the past 10 years or so.
 Put the house up for sale - smokie
Why do you move so frequently? Do you move around in the same locality?

We have long-standing friends etc in the immediate vicinity (staggering distance, even after a good session over a summer BBQ!!) here and I wouldn't really want to move away from that. As said, very few bungalows in that "catchment area".

I suppose if you are used to moving you know not to get as "settled in" as much as we have.
 Put the house up for sale - sooty123
I suppose if you are used to moving you know not to get as "settled
>> in" as much as we have.
>>

Correct, we've not known anything different but moving about.
 Put the house up for sale - Zero
Help? thats what you pay the agent for. Tell them to earn the money and sort out the requirements for you.
 Put the house up for sale - Ambo
I'm also thinking of selling my house, after nearly 50 years here, so I am well out of the picture. Would the agent organise the EPC? Who would carry it out?

Quite a lot of work needs to be done and I don't want to do it. Could I not just set a low price to make up for it?
 Put the house up for sale - bathtub tom
You can let the agent organise the EPC, but I suspect you'll get one cheaper if you arrange it yourself. Don't set the price yourself, go with an agent's recommendation, they've got far more experience. They're telling me it's a seller's market at the moment and there's loads of buyers out there. I've got five more viewings today.
Speak to at least three agents.
 Put the house up for sale - Dave_
We've moved three times in the last 10 years. I don't know where in the country you are, but we had our EPC done by a chap from St Neots who trades as "The EPC Man", it was £45 then and his website says it's "from £65" now. He came round, asked about the insulation in the loft and the walls, looked at the windows and boiler and went away again. Certificate arrived by email within a couple of hours. If he's not convenient for you there are plenty of self-employed folk offering the same service all over the country.

If (big if) we were going to move again, I wouldn't necessarily go with the cheapest estate agent; the more expensive ones in my experience more than cover the extra commission with the higher sale prices they achieve. You need to strike up a good rapport with the estate agents' office team; you'll be speaking to them a lot for a few months. They will know which local tradespeople to recommend; they want the sale to proceed as seamlessly as you do.

For solicitors we used Simply Conveyancing for both our sale and our purchase; the entire thing was done by email and phone/WhatsApp with no unreasonable delays at all. I'd highly recommend them. Many general solicitors' conveyancing departments still run on post and fax machines, which can needlessly introduce frustrating delays. A dedicated conveyancing solicitor will have a better handle on the likely pitfalls before they crop up.
Last edited by: Dave_ on Wed 12 Jan 22 at 21:02
 Put the house up for sale - Terry
We are currently in the "shall we move or stay" phase of life - no urgency but no one knows what the next 5-10 years will bring.

I do not want to move more than once due to both cost and hassle. Doing so when physically one may be well past ones prime is not attractive.

Rather than wait until the issue is forced on us and be compelled to do what ever is immediately expedient, we are looking at how our existing house could be modified.

There are options - extend, fit lift, convert garage etc. Understanding costs, logistic constraints, planning permission etc means that longer lead time stuff could be done now.

That way we should be able to respond to increasing difficulty with stairs etc quickly and (relatively) cheaply. It also means (a) we may never need to move, (b) I get to keep garden, workshop, garage for as long as I need them, (c) less hassle as all planned.
 Put the house up for sale - Crankcase
Just sold my now late mum's house in Bedford. Excellent agent gave us the number of the EPC people and told them we would be calling to book it. Fine, was about £100 I think, they came out a couple of days after listing.

Don't think we did much else other than provide bits the solicitor wanted (docs for an ancient extension, boiler service certs, etc).

Filled in property info form.

I think that was it.

They put it on Rightmove Monday morning, rang me at lunchtime and asked to take it off as they were overwhelmed with interest. We did offers in excess.

They did a viewing for everyone the following Saturday. On the Monday they called to say 36 viewings, 20 odd offers, four were clear cash buyers and they'd seen the cleared funds bank accounts.

We picked the best offer, sold for 20% over original listed price, which was tens of thousands extra.

So all in all, went well, luckily, with not a peep of argument from the buyer or their solicitor from beginning to end about a single thing.

Start to end, about ten weeks.

Edit: agent fee was 0.8% after a few moments haggle. Solicitor was about £1500.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Wed 12 Jan 22 at 11:29
 Put the house up for sale - Ted

Only ever moved once, as 1yr wedded in a flat, there was very little to shift. Bought this place in 1970 for £3750. bit of a struggle, we were looking at houses around £2800. You'd put it on your credit card now ! Big garden, plenty of parking space. It dictated future work plans, I couldn't have set up my car breakdown/transport business from a terraced house, for instance.

97 yrs old, the house, not me, this area has become so popular due to Media City, all the bars and the trams that prices are just shy of £500K for some houses, even terraces near the eatery hotspots with front doors straight off the pavement and back yards !.

As long as I can get up the stairs, I won't be moving. Too much stuff but at least it won't be a problem to get the coffin out of the front door !

Ted
 Put the house up for sale - Ambo
You could always get a stair lift, if your stairway is wide enough.
 Put the house up for sale - Ambo
Re the property information form Crankcase, how detailed was it? I am wondering how far it is necessary to come clean i.e. is it caveat vendor now (used to be caveat vendor).
 Put the house up for sale - Crankcase
>> Re the property information form Crankcase, how detailed was it?

Very detailed. However, lots of the questions offered "don't know" as an option. Because I was selling a house not my own, I could truthfully say that to things like "do the neighbours drains run under your land" and that kind of stuff.

I did have one query about something I've forgotten. I asked the solicitor and he said "the buyer is legally entitled to rely upon anything you say on the property form, if you REALLY don't know". So whatever was, I said "don't know" and didn't get any comeback.

I think there was a catch all "if there is there anything else that might affect the buyer, declare it now" type thing too.

So you might be able to obfuscate with a don't know or an omission, but you probably shouldn't actually lie.

Having typed all that I discovered you can download it and see if you want to.

prdsitecore93.azureedge.net/-/media/files/topics/property/ta6-specimen-may-2020.pdf
 Put the house up for sale - Ambo
Thanks for that.
 Put the house up for sale - Crankcase
No trouble. I wonder if anyone has ever ticked "no" to question 14.4(c)?



 Put the house up for sale - Terry
AIUI if you knowingly answer a question untruthfully you could be legally liable for damages.

There are some issues where you risk an obvious claim - eg: failing to disclose flooding, subsidence, rights or way etc. "Don't know" may be a fair answer if you are selling on behalf of someone else, but you would be expected to take reasonable care in providing answers.

A bit like an insurance policy (car, house, travel etc) if you answer dishonestly or with a lack of appropriate care, any claim may be refused.
 Put the house up for sale - bathtub tom
I'll have to go back and look at the one I received for the place I bought:

14.4 Will the seller ensure that:
(a) all rubbish is removed from the property (including from
the loft, garden, outbuildings, garages and sheds)

There's loads of junk stuffed behind the shed and down the side of the house.
 Put the house up for sale - Crankcase

>> There's loads of junk stuffed behind the shed and down the side of the house.

I was told by various involved parties that if we left anything at all, the buyers would be likely to simply pay for it to be removed, via skip or whatever, and then pass the bill straight to their solicitor, who would then add a 50% uplift and pass it to mine to pass to me.

No idea whether that's actually so, but hey. We did in fact clear every jot from the property, by getting a charity to take what they wanted and then paying a house clearance firm to take the rest, inside and out.
 Put the house up for sale - Ambo
Do you know if it is possible to do a deal with a house clearer whereby they give an allowance on valuable items such as furniture that the vendor does not want to clear?
 Put the house up for sale - smokie
I used house clearers years ago on parents home and I suppose you can't really tell what value they may have put on that kind of thing unless you get quotes you can compare. I doubt they would itemise their valuation though.

It is also worth bearing in mind that whatever value you think an item may have it is likely to be considerably lower than you thought (I don't mean for pukka antique stuff, but e.g. what was expensive G Plan has pretty much zero value these days)
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 13 Jan 22 at 10:57
 Put the house up for sale - henry k
I used house clearers years ago on my mothers home.

Again a vague quote expecting hidden treasures.
i knew there was no value in the furniture to be got rid of
Mumble mumble from them.

What did take me a little by surprise was they moved the stuff into the street and then literally jumped on it until it was flat and then chucked it in the van.
 Put the house up for sale - Crankcase
>> Do you know if it is possible to do a deal with a house clearer
>> whereby they give an allowance on valuable items such as furniture that the vendor does
>> not want to clear?

Mine (two months ago) said that's exactly what they do. I half got the impression they would quote and then later deduct the value of anything of worth.

I'm so naïve. They actually meant the original quote, derived from a visit to the property with me, already included a deduction for anything they thought had value.

Of course, the actual visit involved the usual tooth sucking that is endemic to this sort of transaction, and "that's not another fridge is it, ooh, it'll cost us hundreds to get rid of that" type comments.

In our case there WAS nothing of value anyway, as both the charity and the family had removed stuff already.


 Put the house up for sale - Bobby
Remember there are plenty of charities who will do a house clearance for you. Some will charge and obviously sell on what they can, in my experience others will look at the big picture and see if there is enough money in the contents to not charge for the service.
 Put the house up for sale - Zero
As Smokie said, you'd be surprised how little value your household items have. (until you come to buy some)

That very expensive Ercol dark wood furniture you paid thousands for? Scrap wood. Soft furnishings? mostly legally unsellable.

Best bet is to find a first start charity (where they equip & furnish needy people in their first home)
Give them first dibs then pay to clear the rest.
 Put the house up for sale - Bobby
A true observation from my time in the charity world.

The poorer side of the City buy their sofas etc from DFS and then change when it is paid off. We regularly had these donated to us and we could sell them for decent money.

The rich side of the city tended to buy better quality and hold onto it for years, generations and then be affronted when we would go to their door and refuse to take it away as it was unfashionable and wouldn’t sell, or didn’t have Fire Safety Labels, or a load of other reasons.
 Put the house up for sale - sooty123
When a relative died we used a charity that does up sheltered housing and so they came and cleared the house out for about 50 quid. Took nearly all of it, the bits they didn't want went to the tip.


On one of our house moves we tried using the charities the council recommend to save stuff being landfilled but they were pretty hopeless, didn't do pick up of furniture and only wanted stuff that was basically brand new. Ended up paying the council to do one of their kerbside pick ups.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Thu 13 Jan 22 at 12:19
 Put the house up for sale - PeterS
>> As Smokie said, you'd be surprised how little value your household items have. (until you
>> come to buy some)
>>
>> That very expensive Ercol dark wood furniture you paid thousands for? Scrap wood. Soft furnishings?
>> mostly legally unsellable.
>>
>> Best bet is to find a first start charity (where they equip & furnish needy
>> people in their first home)
>> Give them first dibs then pay to clear the rest.
>>

Whereas the blonde Ercol stuff is still worth real money…. We bought a studio couch (blond) maybe 15 years ago, for the study in the house before last. It went to the following house, but when I moved last year I sold it as I’d downsized a little. Bought for £650, sold for £1950. The exception rather than the rule, I grant you!

As was this…

extra.ie/2021/05/22/must-see/woman-frustration-sale-secondhand-couch
 Put the house up for sale - Zero
dunno when, if ever dark wood furniture will regain its value, its been in the doldrums for decades, good Edwardian and Victorian dark wood furniture is mostly worthless, it needs to be of antique significance to be sellable.
 Put the house up for sale - Robin O'Reliant
Virtually all our living room furniture is good quality dark wood, including the aforementioned Ercol table we did indeed pay a fortune for about 35 years ago. Fortunately it's value doesn't matter as the only move we are planning is to the cemetery or care home when the time comes. and having had fifteen different addresses over the course of my life (The last twenty years ago making this the longest I've ever stayed in one place) the thought of going through the whole nightmare again would fill me with dread.
 Put the house up for sale - PeterS
Yes, it went out of fashion 70 or 80 years ago and shows no sign of coming back. Much of it is too fussy for modern tastes, and smaller houses and lower ceilings mean that dark and/or fussy furniture is oppressive so I suspect the answer is never!
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